Global shooting hot spot: Australia

American Film Market 2011: Territory Report

After a year-long review of Aussie film subsidies ended this year, the industry had a partial win with the post-production, digital and visual effects (PDV) offset upped from 15% of production spend to 30%, which has already helped land some major CGI work Down Under.

Unfortunately the Location Offset was only raised from 15% to 16.5% despite a strong push from the industry and government bodies tasked with bringing international production to a country whose dollar has recently grown stronger than the U.S. greenback.

However, should productions pass an Australian content test, then there are much better incentives on offer with the Producer Offset currently accounting for a competitive 40%.

While it’s still required that a production must have a strong Aussie story or creative team, there were moves made earlier this year to lower the threshold of the offset and to make the paperwork for coin less overwhelming.

The Australian states also offer incentives that can be used in tandem with national coin, depending on where the production shoots.

There is crew depth Down Under that is as deep as any in Europe or the U.S., and recent productions such as “The Great Gatsby” and “Paradise Lost” are set to tap into that expertise.

The country is at the cutting edge of special effects and animation — the upcoming “Happy Feet Two” was animated in Oz — particularly when it comes to 3D. The east coast also has a choice of top-quality studios, most of which are close to capital cities.